Take me Home
by LexieBird
Summary: Oneshot; short conversation between Susan and the Doctor, pre-Time War. It's the Doctor's job to bring them home.


She meets his eyes with a cold glare. There's warmth there too, deep down, because she really can't be anything but happy to see him. He's smiling and grinning, which wasn't normal for him when she was around but she thinks maybe he's changed since then.

"Grandfather," she says, trying to seem cool and annoyed and aloof, but the excitement and happiness creeps into her voice despite her best efforts.

"Susan!" he exclaims, and he is much better than her at this because his voice betrays none of the fear and worry she can feel radiating off him. "I'd say that it's been far too long, but I'm not sure that it has been, for you."

"Oh Grandfather, you never were one for times, were you?" she says, not even trying to hide her delight anymore. Softer now, sadder, she says, "It's been fifty years."

His eyes are soft and kind. "Five-hundred, for me," he tells her.

"And you've regenerated," she prompts.

"Seven times, believe it or not."

There is a silence that is still comfortable, before Susan sighs heavily.

"You're here for a reason, I can tell," she says, wanting to get this over with. Whatever bad news he has, she can take it. She watched as the others around her got old, expecting to stay young, but she didn't; she aged as they did, and it confused her, until the town doctor finally managed to convince her to take blood tests. The results made her cry for a week, but she was a grown woman now, in a world where females were no lesser than men.

"Firstly to apologise, then apologise again, then… take you on a trip, that you won't want to go on," he says, looking down at his feet, back up and then meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry for how I treated you, how I left you behind, and for not telling you what you now know," he says, quickly and sincerely, eyes locking with hers.

"Where-"

"Not Earth," her Grandfather cuts in quickly, "not human. Not quite Time Lord, either. Gallifreyan, from-"

"The Outsiders," she says quietly, cutting him off this time. He nods gently.

"I couldn't- Even then, Susan, I couldn't."

"No, it's okay… It's okay." She nods firmly. "I've had a lifetime to come to terms with that. Your other apology?" she asks, changing the topic quickly.

"For something I haven't done yet," he says, then stands up straighter, cutting off all emotions from his face. "Susan, the Time Lords are issuing a total recall of everybody. Then need every man and woman they can find, and I've been tasked with coming and getting the ones out of contact range." He falters, then, sucking in a breath, the mask falling from his face. Susan sees his expressions, broken and pained, before his face goes blank again. "You may not be full Time Lord, but you've easily got the knowledge of one. Even if you didn't, the Capitol is siding with the others for the moment." He pauses again here, looking desperately into her eyes. "You… have to come with me."

"I will. I've had my life here Grandfather, and I'd like to see the suns-sets again, if nothing else," she says gently, not knowing what she's getting herself into other than that it's bad, bad, bad.

"No, you… Susan," her Grandfather says, grabbing her by the shoulders, "this is what I want you to do. I want you to take something heavy, anything at all, and I want to to hit me with it, hard, right here," he takes her hand and moves it around to the back of his head, ignoring her protests, "right here, you got that? Then you have to run. You don't give off enough of a time signature for them to find you if you stay low."

"Grandfather," she protests, "I-"

"We're at war, Susan," he hisses. "I'm not meant to tell you until we're in the Time Vortex, where you can't run. We're at war and we're going to loose. Our five best warrior battalions have already fallen. Arcadia is well on the way, and we've barely made a dent in their forces. I'm the last one left of the fifth battalion, and I'll be joining the sixth once they make it to the front. It's a paradox pit, the whole thing, Gaillifrey and Skaro and anything in between. There's deaths and re-deaths and regenerations and paradoxes and rips and tears and things we haven't even thought up names for yet. If you have any sense at all, if you ever trusted me, if you value your life you will knock me down and run."

"Grandfather…"

"I always though of you as my granddaughter. I can't lead you to your death."

"You won't be." Susan says, resolute, her head held back and eyes forward. "I'll be walking there of my own violation."

Her Grandfather's eyes go wide, fearful and he swallows hard. "You're not going to make a difference. One person, one tiny girl isn't going to make a difference."

"Is that all I am then?" Susan asks, eyes flaring. "A silly little girl who can't do anything? I understand you are trying to protect me, Grandfather, _Doctor_, but I've learnt over the last fifty years that I don't have to just follow. I can make my own decisions now."

"Oh, I know," he replies, "and I took your decision making away from you for quite a long time. But please, please don't fight. Don't die."

"I want to go. If I'm going to die I want to do it for something. For home. I don't want to be alone." Susan's voice is now a whisper. "Take me home, Grandfather."

* * *

><p><em>I think Susan's a little OOC, but at the same time she has grown up quite a bit since she was the whiney child trailing after the Doctor. And I'm rubbish at writing Eight, so... yeah.<em>

_Enjoy._

_And about the 'not quite Time Lord thing'... all Time Lords were Gallifreyans (with the exception of Jenny but hey, she's biologically Gallifreyan) but not all Gallifreyans were Time Lords. Exactly what the difference is wasn't ever clearly stated, sometimes Time Lords were just Gallifreyans with a TARDIS, sometimes they were a genetically altered and thus superior race._

_In my headcanon Susan is Gallifreyan (hence the telepathy) but not Time Lord (lack of regenerations, long life). Because I can't believe the Doctor would leave her there if she wasn't going to age._


End file.
